Survival time [ Time Frame: From registration to death due to any cause, assessed up to 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier.

Time to disease progression [ Time Frame: From randomization to documentation of disease progression, assessed up to 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier.

Duration of response (complete response [CR] or partial response [PR]) [ Time Frame: The date from which the patient's objective status if first noted to be either a CR or PR to the date progression is documented, assessed up to 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Time to treatment failure [ Time Frame: From the date of registration to the date at which the patient is removed from treatment due to progression, toxicity, refusal, or death, assessed up to 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Toxicity defined as adverse events that are classified as either possibly, probably, or definitely related to study treatment, per the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) version 2.0 [ Time Frame: Up to 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]

The maximum grade for each type of toxicity will be recorded for each patient, and frequency tables will be reviewed to determine toxicity patterns.

Phase II Trial of STI571 in Patients With Relapsed Small Cell Lung Cancer

Brief Summary

Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of imatinib mesylate in treating patients who have recurrent small cell lung cancer. Imatinib mesylate may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for cancer cell growth.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Determine the response rate, time to progression, and overall survival of patients with recurrent small cell lung cancer treated with imatinib mesylate.

II. Correlate the presence of c-Kit mutations in tumor tissue with treatment response in patients treated with this drug.